All posts by lspady

#22: A Mile of Pizza

Math Mini Sparks

This mini spark is all about giant pizzas. Take a look at the math involved in making a mile long pizza.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #22:A Mile of Pizza

2. May 19, 2016:  Along the seafront of Naples in Italy, 100 chefs collaborated to create a 1,853.88 metres (6082.2 feet / 1.15 miles) long Neapolitan, which Guinness World Records confirmed is officially the Longest pizza ever made. This record was broken the following year in California.

3. Read this article to find out about all the “numbers” associated with creating the mile-long pizza in Italy!  Many of the measurements in the article are given in metric units.  Use an online conversion calculator to change any of the measurements from metric to customary. Record these on your recording page.

4. Instead of looking at a mile of pizza , let’s watch a video about a mile of Pi. One your recording page write about what challenges the the researchers faced while doing this project.

5. If you could choose to make a “mile” of your favorite food, what would it be?  What ingredients would need?  What special tools would you need to have on hand?  Write a few paragraphs about your “mile of food” and include an illustration. If you would rather write a story about your mile of food, that is great!

6. Read about other food-related world records.

7. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#18: About You!!!

Reading Enrichment

Tell others about you. Complete this ABC reading mini spark get to know you activity.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #18: About You!!!

2. Please respond to the following stems on your recording page.

A- Age:

B- Biggest fear:

C- Current time:

D- Your favorite day of the week:

E- Every day starts with this activity:

F- Favorite song:

G- What makes you giggle?:

H- Hardest obstacle you’ve overcome:

I- Itching to buy:

J- Favorite joke:

K- Last kind deed you performed:

L- Last meal you ate:

M- Middle name:

N- Number of siblings:

O- One wish:

P- Person you last called:

Q- Question you’re often asked:

R- Reason to smile:

S- Song last sang:

T- Time you woke up today:

U- Something that makes you unhappy:

V- Dream vacation destination:

W- Your worst habit:

Y- Your favorite food:

X- X-Rays you’ve had:

Z- Zodiac sign:

3. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Hello To Summer!

Sindt Blog

Well, clearly I didn’t do the best job this year of keeping up with my blog.

The year went by so quickly!  Some highlights for me were:

Novel groups – I especially enjoyed reading Anne Frank with all of my 6th graders, and Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs with my 4th graders.

Math groups – I enjoyed watching kids at Rockbrook fly through my Perplexor books!  I now have all the levels because they just couldn’t get enough!

Pull-out groups – we had a lot of fun creating the circuit cards.  Kids learned a lot about creating circuits!  We also enjoyed downloading Sketch Nation and creating our own video games and a marketing plan for them.

I’ve included a link to an EY Bucket List I e-mailed to the students.   They need to show evidence of completing at least six of the activities at the beginning of the next school year to earn a reward.  Happy Summer!!!!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10qFhrkGG0Ne1o-D_azKDigaeGGsOZy_Qrg798R8WI0c/edit?usp=sharing

Early Enrichment #24: Goodnight, Elephant and Piggie

Early Enrichment

On May 3, the 25th and final book in the “Elephant & Piggie” series goes on sale. In “The Thank You Book,” Gerald (the elephant) and his pal Piggie thank everyone they know, but not before embarking on one more endearing experience.

–Mia Geiger, Washington Post

Elephant and Piggie books, by Mo Willems have been children’s favorites since they were first published in 2007. Since then, Willems has published 25 adventures with the beloved characters. The final book, The Thank You Book, was released on May 3rd, 2016.

Thank You Gallery.small 27247476 Read Elephant and Piggie

Image Source

To celebrate the Elephant and Piggie books, check out the Thank-O-Rama Website. You can create a thank you for someone special, learn how to draw Piggie, make puppets, and color.

Mo Willem’s Thank – O – Rama

Also try:

  1. Elephant and Piggie Mad Libs 
  2. Create your own Elephant and Piggie Story 

Before you go, comment below and share your favorite Elephant and Piggie book or memory! 

#21:Tridecagon

Math Mini Sparks

While teaching an enrichment lesson to 3rd graders a few weeks ago, one of them asked what a 13-sided figure was called.  Did you know it is a called a TRIDECAGON? Explore polygons and polygon names in this math mini spark.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #21:Tridecagon

2. Choose 2 activities to complete this mini spark

  • Watch The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns.  Reading this book aloud is my  favorite ways to start a geometry unit.  After watching the video, make a recording on your recording page about your favorite shape and where it appears most often. Pick a polygon and draw 4-5 pictures of where that shape appears.

  • At Math is Fun, research the names of polygons that you don’t already know and create a visual showing what you have learned.
  • Create a “Geometry Around Us Presentation.”  Look at this example: as a starting point.  You can use any tool (Explain Everything, Pic Collage, Canva, etc.) and include as many vocabulary words as you like.  Try to find pictures of polygons in your school or outside.

  • Write your name in block polygon letters.  Color the letters and under each one, write the correct name for each polygon.

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3. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

 

#17: How to use a colon

Reading Enrichment, Uncategorized

A colon is used to give emphasis, present dialogue, introduce lists or text, and clarify composition titles. Learn about this misunderstood punctuation mark in this mini spark.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #17: How to use a colon

2.  Read this information about colons. Record the bold word and the sample sentence.

Emphasis—Capitalize the first word after the colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. (She had one love: Western Michigan University.)

Dialogue—Write the speaker’s name, followed by a colon and his or her statement. (Reporter: What is the 49th Parallel? Dunn: It is the line of latitude that acts as the boundary separating Canada from the United States in North America.)

Introduce lists—Capitalize the first word after the colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. (I want the following items: butter, sugar, and flour.)

3. Watch the video. Pause the video as needed to record notes. Pay special attention to any words that are new to you, rules, specific examples and sample sentences. These items should all be included on your recording page. You you have at least 5 items on your note page when you are done.

 

4. Look over this teaching page.  Scroll past the video and read the intro sentence and then 1, 2 and 3. Read each one and write down the rule and an example.

5. Write two of your own sentences using a colon correctly.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

 

 

Social Studies Mini-Spark #11: The Ancient Origins of the Olympics

Thousands of years in the making, the Olympics began as part of a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus in the rural Greek town of Olympia. But how did it become the greatest show of sporting excellence on earth? Armand D’Angour explains the evolution of the Olympics.

Below, please view the video about the origins of the Olympics:

More resources for you to explore:

Interested in the Ancient Olympic Games and the mythology behind them? Click here to find out more! Do chariot racing, the pankration, and twenty competitors on one running track at once sound challenging? Visit this site to find out more about the competitions, spirit of the ancient Olympics, and stories of the competitors.

For all things Olympic go to Olympic.org, and take a look at the featured athletes, youth development and future Olympic cities. Which city will host the next Olympic games in 2024? Read about how the next Olympic city will be chosen and the process that goes along with it here. After all the festivities and competitions are done, see “What Becomes of Olympic Stadiums.” Interested in following Olympic news on social media? Visit Twitter!

Ever wonder about the meaning behind the Olympic Symbols? What is the meaning of the five rings, the flame, and the motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius.” Read this and find out their meanings. Interested in Olympic Medals? Are they really made of Gold, Silver and Bronze? Learn the truth here!

Finally, think about the following question and respond in the comments section below with your thoughts:

Do the Olympics encourage sporting activity at all levels or just for elite sportspeople?

#mathcurse with the #spadyboys

Spady Blog, Uncategorized

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I know I’ve blogged about this before, but seriously, you can really turn anything into a math problem!

I recently read a blog post by @raspberryberet3 about teaching financial literacy in the classroom and I couldn’t agree more!  Even better, let’s get into the habit as parents of  pointing out situations when we use math in our daily lives.  I realize I’m a math teacher and sometimes my problems are a S-T-R-E-T-C-H for practical applications, but it does get us talking about math in different ways.  Below are a few ways I talk about math with the #spadyboys.

  • I always point out geometry vocabulary while driving.  It’s not uncommon for me to pull off on the side of the road to take a picture of an object with lots of geometric terms.  This one is one of my favorites!  Can you see the quadrilaterals, triangles, transversals and supplementary angles?

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

I have a collection of pictures here: http://tinyurl.com/geopicswg and recently I had my pre-algebra students use these pictures and @explainevrythng on their iPad to define and highlight the “Geometry Around Us.”  It was much better than writing down a bunch of definitions in a notebook.  Check out Tyler’s example here:  https://youtu.be/aDcRaVMiTa8

 

I’m excited about some of the new vocabulary ideas I learned from @rwootenits at NETA this past week!  There are lots of tools and resources we can use to make the vocabulary much more meaningful for our students.

  • My favorite place to take the #spadyboys is the @DollarTree.  Before we get to the checkout, they have to calculate the sales tax.  Food isn’t taxed so they have to figure out how many non-food items we have.  Then, if it’s 7% sales tax, that’s $0.07 for every dollar we spend.  They often have the total calculated before the checker scans all the items.
  • Percents show up everywhere!  When I read @raspberryberet3‘s blog post, I immediately thought of my awesome shoe deal at @DSWShoeLovers last month.  The shoes shown at the top of this page were originally $60.00 marked down to $39.94 on the yellow sticker.  The yellow sticker meant that I could take an additional 80% off!  What was the final price for the shoes?  Figure it out and leave a comment below!  Whenever I can, I stress that we don’t always need calculators or tip cards to figure out percents.  With a little rounding and estimating and moving decimal places, we can do it all mentally!
  • I have a fascination with palindromes and get super excited when my odometer (currently at 159710 miles) reads a palindrome.  Not only does it make for a cool pattern of numbers, but we can also figure out when the next palindrome will take place.  BTW…how many more miles do I have to drive in order to reach a palindrome?  Palindromes pop up all the time on the clock!  Even my 5-year-old is getting the hang of it!

You truly can turn anything into a math problem.  Whether it’s a practical application of percents or a fun pattern of numbers that create a palindrome, let’s work on turning the #mathcurse into #mathopportunities!

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Early Enrichment #23: Dream Learning Spaces

Early Enrichment

Our school district is going through a lot of changes, and classrooms will begin to look very different over the next few years. Have you ever imagined your classroom looking different?

Would you have cool seating in your classroom?

Seats  Seats2

Image Source A       Image Source B

What about a place to create?

Make

Image Source C

How will you showcase your learning?

Showcase

Image Source D

Are you like me, and like quiet areas to read?

Reading Nook

 Image Source E

Here’s your chance to become an architect and design your new learning space. 

Design your dream classroom or learning space. Grab a poster and other materials to create your new learning space. You can add whatever features you think would help your learning, but make sure to include  the following:

(1) A place to collaborate or work with your classmates

(2) A area to create and make things 

(3) A space to showcase your learning

(4) A quiet area to work and read

Share your designs with your EY Coordinator.

We will post the top designs on our Student Showcase!

 

 

Early Enrichment #22: Roman Numerals

Early Enrichment

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

 I just counted to ten can you believe it?! It doesn’t look like I did, because they are letters,  but long ago that is how numbers looked liked. Number like that have a special name,

Roman Numerals 

We don’t use Roman Numerals often, but you can find them on clocks, in books, and even at the super bowl each year. Superbowl

Roman-Numeral-Clock

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Can you figure out your birthday in Roman Numerals? Here is an example:

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. That is the same as 2/12/1809

2 = II                           12 = XII

(1809 = 1000 + 800 + 9)                           1000 = M                           800 = D C C C                           9 = IX

II – XII – MDCCCIX

Comment below with your birthday!